Return ruled out as Lloyd assumes new station (26 March 1999)

DAVID LLOYD will not return as England coach even if the host
nation are triumphant in the World Cup final at Lord's in June
and he will now concentrate his boundless energy on a career in
broadcasting.

Within hours of the announcement that the England and Wales
Cricket Board would not be renewing his contract he was signed up
to join satellite television and he told a packed press
conference at Old Trafford yesterday: "That chapter will end
whatever happens. I've had three cracking years and I think we
have a decent base for the international team to move forward.
The World Cup is a massive competition which will have a massive
bearing on the future of cricket and I think it is better that
the matter of the coach is sorted out now so that it doesn't have
any impact on the team."

Lloyd, 52, said that his desire for job security had sparked off
the discussions over his future and that everything was sweetness
and light between himself and the board, although the former
Lancashire and England opener cannot be too pleased that the ECB
were unable to give him the vote of confidence he required.

The Accrington-born Lloyd has never been slow to speak his mind,
often to his cost, and there was the promise of rich things in
store when he said: "Where I come from if a bloke kicks you once,
you kick him twice. I've always believed in being honest and
saying what I think and I'm looking forward to my new career."

He has enough material gathered over his years inside the England
dressing room for a book and tentative approaches have already
been made, but Lloyd's revelations are unlikely to be in the
Glenn Hoddle mould.

"I didn't pick the team for a start, although most people seem to
think I did," he said. "I got accosted at one in the morning at a
petrol station by one bloke who accused me of picking the wrong
players. I would like to have my own team on the field and I dare
say that Ray Illingworth, Keith Fletcher and Micky Stewart before
me would have liked to do that too.

"But at the moment the coach's job is to direct preparation,
encourage, point out the strengths and weaknesses of the
opposition and provide support. Whoever takes over will start
with a strong base."

The low point in his tenure, during which England played 34
Tests, winning nine and losing 13, and 45 limited-overs
internationals in which they were successful 21 times, came when
the West Indies went 3-1 up in the Caribbean and not, as many
might have supposed, on the ill-starred tour of Zimbabwe.

"I know I got it in the neck for saying 'we murdered them' but
nobody remembers it was in reply to being asked if I thought we
were lucky to get a draw," Lloyd said.

The high spot came last summer in the first five-match series win
for 12 years. "We stared them in the eye, never took a pace back
and came out on top," he said. "That's the sort of steel we have
to show all the time."

Ever the optimist, Lloyd predicts a solid future for an England
team who will start under a new coach during this summer's series
against New Zealand while Lloyd passes judgment in the commentary
box. "Darren Gough will get better and better, Dean Headley is
emerging as a genuine bowler now that he knows he must get the
ball into the right areas and Alex Tudor has frightening pace and
will develop.

"Nasser Hussain has cemented his place in the side and Mark
Ramprakash has been made a part of the team and I like to think
I've had a part in all that. The players know they have got to
perform or someone else will be knocking on the door and that's
got to be good for everyone."

England are likely to face competition from Warwickshire if they
want Bob Woolmer to replace Lloyd as coach. The club yesterday
confirmed their interest in reappointing Woolmer, who became
South Africa's coach after guiding the county to an historic
treble in 1994.

Andrew Caddick, the fast bowler overlooked for the Ashes tour
after taking more than 100 wickets last season, has agreed a
two-year extension of his contract that ties him to Somerset
until 2003.

Glamorgan made a profit of £111,921 during the financial year
ending Nov 30, 1998. It is the second-highest profit in the
county's history and follows the previous year's figure of
£154,715.